Wedding Dress
by Hasty Hastings
Summary: Had he lost her? It wasn't intentional, it was his job. All he could remember of the night was the way her dress felt, laced through his fingers' grasp.


**Author's Note: **It's Monday. I hate Mondays. I really hate Tuesdays and Wednesdays too. I thought of this fic on the bus when this song by Matt Nathanson (swoon!) played on my iPod while it was on Shuffle. I was all "Omg! This would make such an amazing song-fic! Then I googled the meaning… not so great. I'm not going to waste time going into specifics, but if you really want to know, google it.

I've decided to take my own approach to the song's meaning so it'll sound happier. Not super-mega-sugar-coated-fluff happy, but better than it's meant to translate to. Without further or do, I give you, a fic.

**Disclaimer: **My name's not J.K…. I checked my Birth Certificate.

**Wedding Dress**

_So we lie here in the dark_

_All the wrong things on fire_

_In sickness and in health_

_Just to be with you_

_Just to be with you…_

For some reason that valued no explanation, the warmest day in August felt like January.

"Harry, we've got Defensive Spell Training in five minutes," Ron whispered, switching off the lamp dangling over his cot.

"Be out in a second." Harry crawled off his cot and checked the post: Nothing. "Not one letter from Gin," he growled, grabbing a quill and parchment. "The last one must've got lost." He was in denial. He knew she'd been upset and not caring enough to answer his letters. But, how could he blame her? He was wrong to leave so sudden, though it was his job. He dearly hoped she'd forgive him when he returned in the week to come.

**XXX**

"_Darling, it's beautiful here!" Ginny grinned, looking through the warm window of the bungalow they were in. "I'm so glad we're finally here. It takes a lot to apparate this far in my gown." She turned around to face him._

_Kissing her, Harry smiled and licked her lips. "I love you," He mumbled._

"_I love you, too. This feels so perfect. We're here. Alone." She whispered, pressing her forehead to his._

_Winking, Harry moved his hands down her back to her waist. "I can't wait to unravel that ribbon on your dress so I can-"_

_CRASH!_

"_Pig!" Gasped Ginny. Harry spun around to get a good look. Indeed, his owl had flown all the way to the island. _

"_What's she doing…?" Harry asked._

"_Well, go on," suggested Ginny. "Help her inside." Sitting on the bed, Ginny bit her lip and bounced eagerly for Harry's return._

_Frowning, Harry read the letter. "What's happened?" Ginny asked in anticipation and panic. "Is it Mum and Dad? Ron…?" Too eager to get an answer, she stood up and walked to glance over her husband's shoulder._

"_I have to leave…" Whispered Harry. "They need me for a training mission. Ron, too." He sighed._

"_What?" Ginny asked, voice still and shaky. "No, this isn't funny, Harry."_

_Harry looked at her, "I know, it isn't."_

_Ginny wasn't satisfied. "Okay, I get it. Let the family pop out of the closet and yell 'Surprise!' because this is getting really old fast." Her breaths had scattered. She was breathing almost uncontrollably._

"_I… I wish I could… I didn't approve…" Harry repeated, trying to figure out an explanation._

"_Harry James Potter, you look me in the eyes and tell me this isn't real." Ginny warned._

"_I swear, I'd never…" Harry backed away._

"_But… can't you just tell them you can't go?" She sniffed._

"_I wish. I feel terrible, Gin. I would never do this to you, ever." Harry grasped her tear-swept cheeks in his palms. _

"_Whe.. when do you leave?" Ginny asked._

"… _Tomorrow."_

"_No. This isn't happening… not now." _

**XXX**

Harry could still remember the texture of Ginny's wedding dress clutched in his arms from that night. He could still remember the way she smelled, the color of her lips, her smile. He wished there was a way to get back sooner, to hold her. To tell her he wouldn't leave ever again. A month away from her had felt like a decade. As uncomfortable as it was for him to admit it, he didn't like to look at Ron, because he looked too much like her.

"Mate, you ready?" Ron asked, packing up the rest of his things.

Harry grabbed his wand, folding his cot into a miniscule one the size of a note card and slipping it into his kit. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He replied.

"C'mon, mate. She misses you just as much, I'm sure."

"And how do you know this?" Harry narrowed his sleep-ridden eyes at Ron.

"Just because she's too worried to write to you doesn't mean she doesn't still write to me." Ron chuckled at Harry's useless anger.

"Oh." Said Harry, skimming around for anything he'd forgotten. He spotted something almost buried in the tent flap. Squinting his eyes, he made it out to be some kind of dried up flower. Pulling at it, Harry soon had a full rose. Not just any rose, but the rose he'd plucked from Ginny's hairpin as she slept the morning he apparated to the port-key at the Burrow. Grasping at it, he followed Ron to the port-key outside the tent.

**XXX**

Within seconds, Harry was back at home. He was nervous. Nervous that she'd forgotten him, that she'd possibly moved on to a man better-suited for her lifestyle. He was nervous that he'd lost her when he left.

Opening the door, the warmth of the crackling fire inside Grimauld Place warmed his body. He heard bustle throughout the home and was soon greeted by a pair of tiny hands around his ankles.

"Harry!" Teddy smiled. "Harry, you'we back!"

Harry laughed and picked Teddy up. "How's my favorite God-Son?"

"Gweat!" Teddy grinned. Soon, Harry heard footsteps from the kitchen. Setting Teddy on the floor again and lowering the arm with his pack, he waited to see her.

"Hi, Darling," Ginny smiled. She hugged him tightly and he kissed her neck.

"I missed you," Harry whispered, pulling away.

"I missed you, too. I'm so sorry! I was so insensitive." She frowned. "I wanted the honeymoon to be perfect and I wasn't thinking about what really mattered: being together." She apologized.

"Don't be sorry," Harry began. "I had no idea we'd be called out for mission. I swear, I wouldn't have gone.." Ginny kissed him again.

"I thought I lost you." Said Harry.

"No, no you didn't. I love you." Ginny smiled and looked down at Teddy.

"We should get you home. I promised your grandmother I'd have you back at eight o'clock and it's nearly that time."

Teddy jumped up and down. "Can Harry take me?" Teddy begged.

"I don't see why not." Harry smiled.

Ginny winked, "Don't be too long, I think I need your help with this zipper. I can't take my wedding dress off." She pulled up her apron to reveal her wedding dress poking out from under it.

Harry was smitten.

**How was it? Too fluffy? I admit, I lost plot and subject towards the end, but it was alright, I guess. I'm not sure if it fit the song, really, I just thought it was a good storyline. Review please and tell me what you think! Thank you! x**


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